Whether Stabbed Nanny

[Latestarter]

You may be able to find a replacement wether or (s) that has been disbudded by searching Craigs list. I just sold two more and have one more left for sale. They are still out there and may be a better bet and just eat the 2 you have. Hope your girl's wound heals up OK. Punctures are the worst for infections...

 

[rodriguezpoultry]

She's healing up just fine thanks to the antibiotics. Just have to wait until this Saturday before I can drink her milk again.

If I get another goat, it would be another LaMancha doe or LaMancha wether. I'm completely sold on them. Calm, docile and very friendly. Plus they're BIG. I like big goats!

They are processing goats right now. I already have a butcher planned out but was just hoping to get them through this summer before doing it. Ah well. I'm highly doubtful my "favorite" boy did it. He's not at all the fighting kind. McDerp I can see doing it as he thinks he's the cock of the walk.

 

[hilarie]

Agree with what's been answered so far. In addition, I have some experience with removing horns on an adult goat. It *is* possible, even in summer - I've done it - when warped scurs were growing into the goat's head on an ongoing basis. I loved the goats and I wanted those scurs gone. (The bad disbudding job wasn't done on my watch, but I had to pay the price.) It helps to find a vet with experience/comfort with removing adults' horns (I have such a fantastic vet) and it means you have to keep those fresh defects covered while it heals to prevent the dreaded fly strike. I found a wound care product for human medicine called Adaptic to be the BEST wound dressing ever for not sticking and keeping the wound clean. Wrapping a goat's head isn't the easiest thing in the world, but you can do it pretty easily with an accomplice. In addition, the second goat to be dehorned on my watch benefitted from the vet's new procedure of pulling the skin around the defect to be sutured across the middle and eliminating the need for a head dressing beyond the first day or two. It healed beautifully and - presto - no more horns and everybody's happy.

 

[hilarie]

And BTW, I love LaManchas too. Big goofballs.

 

[Ridgetop]

Yes, you can dehorn adult goats. The open horn roots will need more attention because of flies but it can be done easily with a wire saw. But why bother to dehorn them? Save the money and time and put them in the freezer. Then look around for another (disbudded) LaMancha doe to keep your doe company. You can get one in milk, or a dry yearling. Summer is here - Fair time! Graduating 4-H kids will be selling off some or all of their milkers. Many herd owners will sort out their show string and keep only their best milkers. You might get a nice LaMancha with the promise of the seller breeding her back in August or September. I wouldn't bother getting another wether, try to find another milker. Milkers make plenty of wethers! LOL

To avoid this goring problem next year disbud your goats at 7 - 10 days old just when you can feel the horn buds. Bucks develop the buds earlier than doe kids. It only hurts for a few minutes, and the benefits outweigh everything IMO. We had 100 dairy goats and Boers, and I disbudded all of the doe kids. The dairy buck kids I sold at 2 months through the local auction. Our ethnic buyers wanted them with horns and with testicles. It saved me work and they brought more $$$. Win, win! The Boer bucks were disbudded, castrated around 2 months old, and grown out for sale as project animals (or the freezer).

Horns injure children, other animals, tear up fences, and on one occasion a goat got her horns caught in the feeder and pulled it over on herself almost breaking her neck. I soon sold her, nice as she was. They make nice handles, but with milk goats you are milking they are so friendly and tame, you don't need anything but their collars to hold on to. Actually, instead of having to catch the goats we practically had to beat them off when we went in their pens! LOL

 

[rodriguezpoultry]

Now I'm wondering if the abscess came from the wethers at all. I just got results back from the vet that she had positive titers for both CAE and CL. The wound was in an area where a lymph node was but that doesn't explain the very positive "hole" I found that traveled throughout or the quick way it appeared. Wasn't there the night before, all of a sudden there and dried out.

The pus was more toothpaste in consistency and looks and was not greenish like what I've been reading.

The vet said that it did not look like CL and that he had had multiple false positives this year even from closed herds. That being said, if I do purchase another animal, I would need it to be from a herd that does not have CL or CAE. Is there a CL vaccine?

 

[Donna R. Raybon]

There is a CL vaccine. I have had friends who used it to clean up infected herd. They vaccinated and culled all with symptoms. When we showed we vaccinated as sheep used same show pens as goats.

CAE there is no vaccine. You need to keep testing for at least four or five years after you close your herd. Best test is ELISA for the actual virus itself. Washington State is best to talk to about sending samples to test. It is now known that virus is in fluids of reproductive tract of both sexes. So, pulling kids at birth does cut down on virus in kids, but they can still be infected.

If you want dairy goats, I would suggest joining ADGA as you will get membership guide so you can find breeders near you. Don't take anything at face value when it comes to diseases, be careful, do your homework.

My herd has been closed for years except for bringing in a buck. My bucks come from a friend who is also quite obsessive about keeping his goats healthy. His are tested and kids raised CAE prevention, just to be safe.

 

[Ridgetop]

I am so sorry to hear this really bad news. Follow Donna R Rayburn's advice and join ADGA. Also, read up on dairy goats, not just the pet guides, but the ones that deal with disease, etc.

Since your doe has tested positive for both CAE and CL my suggestion is (sorry) to cull her and eat both wethers. Then replace her from a CAE and CL free herd. CAE is contagious and there is no cure or vaccine. The only prevention with CAE is to heat treat all colostrum and pasteurize all milk you feed to the goat kids. Then do blood tests every year. Get rid of all animals that are positive for CAE since it can be transferred between herd members in some cases.

There is a vaccine for CL but since your doe already tests positive, she already has it and the vaccine will not cure it. The vaccine will prevent it in new animals, but since your goat has it she will continue to produce abscesses. The pus is contagious and eventually in spite of vaccinations, other goats can catch it. CL pus looks very thick like firm cream or cottage cheese. It is not really green and runny. Again get rid of CL positive animals.

I am so sorry to tell you this, but I kept a very large herd free of CAE and CL for 18 years in spite of constant showing in youth and senior shows. I did it by being strict in getting rid immediately of any animals testing positive for those diseases. You really don't want to fool around with this. All animals should come from clean herds. A reputable breeder who tests will be glad to show you the test results on the herd before you buy. CAE and CL are 2 big reasons for "closed" herds and why most breeders will not breed to goats they don't know (i.e. have bred and sold).

 

[rodriguezpoultry]

Honestly, the CAE is not a big deal for me. The CL I am concerned about but not to the point of destroying them. These are brush eaters, first and foremost. The doe is there for my own milk intake. All doe kids will either be pulled and made into a bottle baby or eaten. All males will be freezer. I just won't sell to the public until I have a CL free herd when she passes naturally.

She is a completely healthy doe and with the false positives I've been reading about from other breeders in the area, I'm not concerned enough to destroy the doe. She'll just be my own personal milk goat and pet.

Treating the abscesses is not a huge ordeal for me, if it winds up she does have CL. I'll have to check the titers that the doctor has at the office for their levels. They do not offer an ELISA test at the clinic around here.

Meh...such is life.

 

[Donna R. Raybon]

Honestly, the CAE is not a big deal for me. The CL I am concerned about but not to the point of destroying them. These are brush eaters, first and foremost. The doe is there for my own milk intake. All doe kids will either be pulled and made into a bottle baby or eaten. All males will be freezer. I just won't sell to the public until I have a CL free herd when she passes naturally.

She is a completely healthy doe and with the false positives I've been reading about from other breeders in the area, I'm not concerned enough to destroy the doe. She'll just be my own personal milk goat and pet.

Treating the abscesses is not a huge ordeal for me, if it winds up she does have CL. I'll have to check the titers that the doctor has at the office for their levels. They do not offer an ELISA test at the clinic around here.

Meh...such is life.

Retest before you cull... I would never cull a non symptomatic goat on just basis of a single test. And, there are labs that I will not trust with so called negative results either. Washington State University is the absolute gold standard IMVHO for CAE and CL testing.
CAE virus is shed in milk and your body produces antibodies to the virus. So your immune system is reacting to virus. Not a good thing, as virus 'jump species' by this very pathway. It is horrible when goat does develop symptoms to either CL or CAE. You just don't know how nasty it is. I would not drink milk, even pasteurized from a CAE or CL positive animals.